Increasing levels of component power and power density from electronic devices such as integrated circuits and memory are creating an increased demand for airflow in thermal management solutions. This results in high acoustic noise levels in computer platforms. A need for more efficient cooling exists to expand the thermal dissipation performance envelope. Bulk or mean airflow may be required to cool electronic devices or finned surfaces attached to the devices. For example cooling air may be blown onto or passed across a memory device or onto or passed across a heat sink, or thermal transfer plate, heat pipe condenser or the like to cool them.
The airflow across a flat plate or across heat sink fins generates a boundary layer. The airflow velocity is zero at the surface and increases to the mean stream velocity outside the boundary layer. The rate of heat transfer from an object to a cooling fluid flow depends on a number of parameters including characteristics of the flow particularly at the boundary layer, including but not limited to velocity, velocity profile including the velocity gradient, level of turbulence, vorticity, flow movement, and mixing.